The Rev. Cheryl Barnes, recently named the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s (PMA) World Mission African Area Coordinator, was honored last week with the Maria Fearing award at the National Black Presbyterian Caucus (NBPC) conference held in North Charleston, South Carolina.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s World Mission ministry announced Wednesday that the Rev. Cheryl Barnes will become the agency’s new Africa Area Coordinator effective June 19.
Loveness is a 9-year-old child in Malawi who has a new friend in mission co-worker the Rev. Cheryl Barnes.
Barnes serves as an education facilitator for the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), where she collaborates with the CCAP Education Department and the education departments of the five CCAP Synods — three in Malawi, one in Zambia and one in Zimbabwe — to improve the quality of primary school education in the many schools under the CCAP umbrella.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been committed to interconnectional ministry in God’s mission at the local, national and global levels since 1837. Since that time, more than 8,000 mission co-workers have shared the good news of Jesus Christ with millions of people worldwide.
The Rev. Cheryl Barnes was at her computer getting ready to go teach Bible school when the Lord sent an email.
Of course, it wasn’t actually the Lord. The email was from World Mission about a mission co-worker position with a strong focus on education. She went down the list. It was as though it had been written for her. Then she saw the location. It was in Malawi. She shut down her computer and went to church determined to forget all about it.
